The San Diego Union-Tribune
December 9, 1987 Wednesday
SECTION: ENTERTAINMENT; Pg. C-11
LENGTH: 692 words
HEADLINE: Fleetwood Mac subtracts by adding
BYLINE: Robert J. Hawkins, Tribune Entertainment Writer
BODY:
Fleetwood Mac was taking its final bows and filing off when Mick Fleetwood's beefy hands collared Billy Burnette and Rick Vito and hauled them back to center stage.
A full head and shoulders below the grinning, 6-foot-6 Mick, the two guitarists looked like sheepish boys caught with their hands in the pot. Fleetwood stepped out of their spotlight and, with exaggerated flourishes, goaded the audience to clap louder for the two newest members of the Mac. His antics were inspired by necessity as much as enthusiasm. Thinking of them as integral parts of Fleetwood Mac is going to take a while.
Nobody said the shoes of Lindsey Buckingham would be easy to fill, but perhaps these fellows are trying a bit too hard. Hoping to generate some spark, some appeal, they slung notes all over the Sports Arena last night, often flattening the delicately cultivated vocal flowers of Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks.
It is hard to see just how they are going to fit into the group. Everyone in the Mac has a unique talent: McVie's sensual singing-songwriting; Nicks' mystical baby's-breath voice; John McVie's steady-on bass; and Fleetwood's demonic drum bashing. Burnette and Vito offer, um, competence. A fire marshal couldn't get a crowd to sit down as quickly as these two did with their solos.
My god, are they suburban! While both sang often, neither has a voice that will embed itself in your brain.
Not like McVie and Nicks. The women of the Mac were splendid, especially McVie, who seems to be holding up a substantial chunk of this pop colossus these days. With the build of a teen-ager and her matured, worldly voice, McVie was captivating to watch and listen to.
She alone of the band stretched her contact with the audience beyond the rudimentary "How ya doin,' San Diego?" (Appropriate response is a lusty roar.) Rarely did she leave the stage or her keyboard during the show. Because of the sudden departure of Buckingham and the subsequent decision to retire his substantial library of compositions, this tour is something of a history lesson.
Songs like the eccentric "Oh Well" and "Another Woman" were resuscitated from the earliest days of the Mac and given to the new lads as vehicles to demonstrate their prowess. McVie dusted off "Over My Head," "Brown Eyes" "You Make Loving Fun" and "Song Bird."
From the band's newest album, Tango in the Night, she bolstered the crowd's enthusiasm with "Little Lies" and "Isn't It Midnight." An obviously well-nourished Stevie Nicks eased up on the lace and dark mystery and instead drew on a strong voice.
She was at her most cosmic-mystical on "Gold Dust," providing the most fetching and theatrical moments of the concert. Sure there were the occasional costume changes -- this or that hat, a black velvet cape, lace shawls in black, gold and red -- the ever-present glow-in-the-dark tambourine, and even a rare skirt-twirling.
These well-documented mannerisms of Nicks' were comforting, familiar.
A good thing to cling to in uncertain times.
And only sporadically emulated by the Wannabes in the audience. Nicks' voice has aged well.
The fragile, wispy tremble has grown more assertive.
It's still a voice you'd follow to the satin sheets on a moment's notice. When McVie and Nicks joined voices, they were thrilling.
The old Mac harmonies, a distinctive trademark for 11 years, were untarnished. A single, supportive guitarist, as unobtrusive as John McVie is on bass, would do nicely. Fleetwood mostly smiled benignly and kept steady time from behind his drum kit.
The old drum cobbler had one stunning eerie solo in which his body became a human drum with the aid of five pressure-sensitive sensors embedded in a vest.
By beating on his torso, Fleetwood conjured up tablas, bass drums, screams, poetry and god-knows-what while Ghana-born percussionist Asante kept time. "When I do it I'm not really of this world," Fleetwood said last week while discussing his techno-gimmick.
It's quite possible that he wasn't kidding. So there are signs of hope.
Fleetwood Mac isn't heading in any particular direction at the moment, but at least there is no pointless drift.
They still put on a good show, even with the new talent.
|